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Marketing isn’t a sprint: What you can do in the short term

Written by Alex Faiers on 21 February 2013

As the saying goes, marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Nonetheless, people often want to know what they can do in the short term to get some more immediate results. Well, saddle up partner; we’re going to share five quick marketing activities.

#1: Pay-Per-Click

For those who can’t wait out Google’s slow take on optimisation, the quickest way to appear in search results is Pay-Per-Click (PPC). This is for those just starting out and who need immediate traffic. When done strategically, PPC can continue while you build SEO value into your campaign. The bonus? When customers see both a PPC ad and an organic link on the same page of results, they are more compelled to click the organic link (double bonus: the organic click won’t cost you anything).

#2: Forum Engagement

In the-not-too distant past, people would spam the heck out of forums. We’re not suggesting you do that. Instead, use forums for what they are meant for - engaging in focused conversations. This means answering and asking questions regularly. This also means not always bringing your brand into the conversation. The idea is to become a power-user, so people recognise your posts and your brand more readily. This will help drive traffic back to your brand and create brand awareness (for branded searches).

#3: Blog

Start building your network of ardent fans by posting valuable, useful, shareable information. While building brand awareness is a long-term strategy, blogging and sharing the posts on social media can be a short-term driver of traffic and awareness. There’s a caveat, though: post meaningful information. Be helpful. Be funny. Be informative. Be personable. Be shareable.

#4: Twitter Alerts

Use tweetbeep.com to set up Twitter alerts (just like Google alerts) and get into the conversations sooner. Help someone out. Answer questions. Connect your blog posts about a subject to the most recent Tweets and let people know about them. The more you can help in the 140 character conversations, the more you’ll become an industry power-player, the more traffic you’ll attract, and more brand awareness will come your way -- quickly.

#5: Stir the Pot

Stirring up a little controversy online is a good way to generate some buzz. You don’t have to do this often and you don’t have to go to the extreme. All you need to do is be a little risky and take a stance that others won’t. Take pride in your products, services, and ways of doing business, and challenge others. This gets conversations moving and shared. Remember you want the buzz but you don’t want to lose customers, so be strategic.

Alex Faiers is the founding director of digital marketing agency Addictivity who provide website design, development and online marketing services. Read more from Addictivity on their blog and follow them on Twitter.